One effect of aging in human beings is a deepening of an area of the face between the nose and the lateral corners of the mouth. This area is referred to by practitioners of facial plastic surgery as the nasal-labial groove. It is also referred to as the melo-labial groove or the labial-facial groove.
As aging proceeds, this area becomes deeper and deeper due to loss of subcutaneous fat pads in the area. In addition, soft tissues of the cheeks may begin to change position and fall inferiorly, and skin may become looser, both of which processes accentuate the deepening of the nasal-labial groove. Such a groove may also be the result of or accentuated by facial trauma or infection.
Conventional facelift surgery may provide considerable improvement of an aging face in certain areas. Such surgery is particularly effective in the lower third of the face and the upper half of the neck. Generally, however, deepening of the nasal-labial groove is not improved dramatically by conventional facelift surgery. Attempts to improve the appearance of the nasal-labial groove frequently result in a facial appearance which is unnatural and may be described as a "pulled back" or a "wind-blown" appearance.
Many patients in their late thirties or early forties become concerned about the deepening of the nasal-labial groove but are less concerned about other aging processes in their face and are thus reluctant, at this age, to undertake something as drastic as facelift surgery. For such patients, an implant method of raising and softening the nasal-labial groove would generally be preferable to conventional facelift surgery.
An implant intended for improving the appearance of the submalar area is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,969,901, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. The implant is insertable intraorally by accepted methods known to those familiar with facial plastic surgery procedures. The implant has an elongated tear drop shape and a generally arch-like cross section. The cross section is, for the most part of the implant, a high arch-like cross section with steeply falling sides.
It is believed that an implant of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,969,901, while effective in plumping the submalar area, is not effective or predictable in softening a developing nasal-labial groove. Its position is lateral to the nasal-labial groove and its main purpose is augmenting the submalar space. This implant is designed to be placed in a subperiosteal and submalar implant position.
There is a need for a nasal-labial implant which is easily insertable by known non-invasive methods, but which is designed to be essentially undetectable as an implant after insertion, and whose unique and primary purpose and function is to augment and reduce the prominence of the nasal-labial groove.